Monday, March 5, 2012

We are Women, hear us ROAR!

With reference to my post titled "Deadly words used by Women", a phrase I have included is "I am Woman, hear me roar". My Quay Lo told me the phrase comes from a song by Australian artist Helen Reddy. Such a beautiful song and a wonderful tribute to women.

While I was watching the video, I received an unexpected phone call. I heard this sweet voice addressing me as Aunty Veronica and introducing herself as Xandria. She said she was with a new radio station (only about four months old) called Capital Fm 88.9 and it is the first radio station in Malaysia that targets a young, urban, female demographic. The video and the phone call at the same time made for an interesting co-incidence.

Xandria explained to me that the station is the only radio station in our country that provides women a voice and a hub to exchange thoughts and opinions. Isn't that fantastic? Then she told me that she heard about my blog and found that the stories posted there would be something that all women could relate to and she would like to invite me to be a guest on her show. Me? Going on the air? Thousands of women hearing my voice? Wow!

Uh oh, wow indeed. After the initial adrenalin rush, I began to feel nervous. I told her my English was not so good. She assured me that it is not a formal interview and was just a very casual chit chat session. She asked me to just be myself and speak like me. Ohkay! LOL! She also told me that the general theme of her programs is “Anything is possible” and is intended to showcase discussions with women who have overcome adversity, or have pursued a dream and I liked that idea! I was so very pleased to hear about the existence of a program like this even though I felt a little apprehension about being a guest on the show. Nevertheless, Xandria was so charming, enthusiastic, and upbeat I could not have resisted. So Wednesday came and I was expected to be in the studio at 5.45pm because the show would start at 6.00pm.

I think all women within broadcast range (which includes access on the station's web site from anywhere on the globe) should be interested. For more info, just click on the picture of Xandria and her co-DeeJay, Liang to get registered. I am WOMAN so I DID!

The Jam Break with DJ Xandria Ooi and Dj Liang

Quay Po with Xandria and Liang

It was the first time I had ever stepped into a radio station’s studio and I was a little nervous, but it did not take me long to feel at home because Xandria and Liang were so warm and friendly. When the show started, we spoke as if we were chatting over tea and we had so much fun, especially when I told them about my “Lucy” moments.

Since I knew I was going to the studio and talk about Quay Po Cooks, I thought I might as well bake something for them to try. I brought them a box of kumquat mini cupcakes, a recipe that was adapted from one posted by Wendy of "Table For Two Or More". This is one of the desserts she brought to the Chinese New Year Bloggers Potluck lunch that we had at the home of Sonia of "Nasi Lemak Lover" not long ago. I love these mini cupcakes for their delicous low key flavor. I recommend that you try this.

Prepare 12, 2x2 inch cupcakes liner. Preheat oven at 150(fan)/170C. Sift flour and baking powder. Mix in ground almond (Mixture A), set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. Put in Mixture A in 2 additions, mixing well after each. Mix in kumquat puree. Divide batter equally into prepared cupcake liners and top with a kumquat half. Bake for 10 mins (2x2 inch) or longer for larger cupcake liners.

Half kumquats and remove seeds. Put cleaned kumquats, sugar and water into a saucepan and cook (on med heat)until the kumquat looks glossy and soft. Remove 12 pcs of halves and puree the rest with some of the syrup.

Keep the balance of the puree to make linzer kumquat cookies which I will be sharing the recipe with you soon.

Sonia, no apology needed. It is easy to forget when we are busy in the kitchen:D Will catch up with you someday soon. Hey I found the peelers I bought for you and Wendy. It was in my wardrobe!! hahaha, I don't how it got there. Anyway, will pass to you when we meet again, hopefully soon. XOXO

Hehe celebrity? me? not even close but I am glad I got this opportunity to go on air and share a bit of my life experience, especially the tough time I went through. I hope women who are in the same situation will know that they are not alone and how tough time may be, it will pass.

One of my favourite songs of all time, even though I'm not a woman. It was in a movie - "Stand up and be counted", a film during the time when the Women's Lib Movement was in full swing...and all of them were burning their bras.

I particularly remember a scene where the wife was complaining to the hubby that he was treating her like a sex object and the hubby asked her, "If I don;t take you as a sex object, what do I take as one? The table? The chair?" Muahahahahaha!!!!! I enjoyed the movie too - saw it in Singapore in 1973.

This song is very hard to sing although it sounded simple. I just can't hit the notes! I can understand why you remember the bras! hahaha... I think I have seen that movie but forgotten most of the scenes. The hubby in the movie said that? Nowadays if man said that to their woman, he will be sit on and her her ROAR!! muahahaha

Meow! ... I mean ... ROAR!!! I definitely will make this cupcake! First - in honor of all the women out there who have become stronger due to certain hardships in their lives, 2nd - to the success of your show and how much I enjoyed listening to it, 3rd - becoz I love kumquats and am drooling at the pics!

Congrats QPC! What a fantastic moment and so glad you shared it with us here in your blog post. Looking stunning too, if I might add ;). I was just at cold storage just now and I was contemplating whether to get some kumquats. Will be bookmarking this recipe. It's time for me to try kumquats. Have a good week ahead!! xoxo..

OMG, what else is impossible to happen to you@Lucy?That's great news & looks like you are getting famous each day! I'm waiting to see Quay Po in the movie soon or may be to release a book? Come on, you can do it!I will love to buy a book from you!

Haiyah, one interview on air will get famous meh? Why you are interested to see a Malaysian comedy called I love Aunty Lucy? Release a book? Who want to know about this nobody lah. Don't pull my leg. LOL!

Quay Po, I just recall of something. I must salute to this DJ for being able to get your contact number. I sent you an email a long time ago, asking for your contact number too but I'm still waiting for your reply, haiiiii! Anyway, this is my email address:jessienwl@yahoo.com

I was thinking, may be Quay Po forgot to press the send button again. Or......

Quay Po, I have 1 more idea for you, run a stand-up comedy, be a stand-up comedian! Why not, the best stories always come from a normal person, a nobody! I'm sure that many other of your followers couldn't agree more than this!

How exciting Veronica!!! I love that song by Helen Reddy by the way. I think she sang another one called You and Me Against the World I'll need to check:) You sure do look comfortable at the radio station. Yes indeed, Anything Is Possible!!! Hear me Roar!!! Delighted you went for it!!!

Congrats!!! I saw your FB and I was excited for you! This was such a cool opportunity! I'd be too shy to speak in public but you are natural. Hope there will be more opportunities like this... like TV! ;-) I love your mini cupcakes. Kumquat is my favorite!

Wow, such coolness to be invited to go on air! Congrats! I do listen to their program occasionally when I driving home from work but unfortunately not on that day :( Will try to listen to the recordings

Wendy, I don't know if I have any wit. hehe The programme is live so when Xandria asked me questions, I just reply as if she is my friend. "Hantam ajer lah" I forewarned her that my English sucks and this Quay Po does not speak like one, and also told her about how Lucy I can be, so she was well aware with who she dealing with! LOL!

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A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.

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AWARDS

I wish to thank those who have given me AWARDS. I feel really honored and thankful to you all. I have decided not to display the awards in my blog or pass it on because I feel it is impossible for me to pass it on to all the deserving blogs. They are so many and I do not feel comfortable leaving anyone out. I hope you appreciate how I feel. Once again Thanks a Million for thinking of me.